Automatic tape dispenser with separate printed tape feed



July 3, 1962 T. s. BEVIER 3,

AUTOMATIC TAPE DISPENSER WITH SEPARATE PRINTED TAPE FEED Filed 001.. 28, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 49 140 6 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. THEODORE S. BE-IVIEF! T. S. BEVIER July 3, 1962 AUTOMATIC TAPE DISPENSER WITH SEPARATE PRINTED TAPE FEED Filed 001.. 28. 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 Q. Cl 8 w W Z m? m r/ 4 a M F 4q4, \l\lv7noq hwm W O 7 e J Wu F n w M m /xi E n 2 M 7 8 5 L \w w M w K h x m m Wm m m K w P 9 7%? w m & Id A 5 l ATTORNEYS 4 M United States Patent r 3,042,104 AUTOMATIC TAPE DISPENSER WITH SEPARATE PRINTED TAPE FEED Theodore S. Bevier,"7548 Cabrillo, La Jolla, Calif. Filed Oct. 28, 1958; Ser. No. 770,164 6 Claims. (Cl. 156-510) The present invention relates to a dispenser for tape and more particularly to a dispenser for pressure sensitive tape of the type which is provided with an adhesive on one side only thereof.

In one aspect of the invention, a transparent or translucent type pressure sensitive tape is employed. The dispenser includes a supporting frame for rotatably carrying a roll of the pressure sensitive tape; a feed head is provided which is positioned to receive the end of the tape and adheres to the tape; this feed head is arranged to be extended so as to withdraw a length of the tape. The frame also provides a support for a second roll of tape and this tape of the second roll is brought into contact with the adhesive side of the pressure sensitive tape so that it adheres to the latter. The design of the tape of the second roll is such that when the tapes are in adhesive relationship a part of the adhesive surface remain-s exposed for adhering to the package being fastened by the pressure sensitive tape. Preferably the non-adhesive tape is narrower in width than the pressure sensitive tape so that adhesive surface is exposed on opposite sides of the non-adhesive tape.

In another aspect of the present invention, the feed head, which is moved to withdraw a length of tape from the roll of pressure sensitive tape, forms a cutting block. A cutter is disposed on the dry or non-adhesive side of the tape in cutting relationship with the cutting block or feed head, and a spring normally urges the cutting block toward the cutter. Mechanism is provided for moving the feed head away from the cutter and is provided for 3,042,104 Patented July 3, 1962 r 2 tape is dry on one side and has an adhesive material on the other side.

These side walls each merge into a cutter assembly supporting section 40 having a top surface 42 which supports the cutter assembly 44, which is held in place by screws 46. The sections 40 each merge into a forwardly extending track section 48 which are spaced from one another as is more clearly shown in FIG. 3. Referring specifically to FIGS. 4 and 6, it will be seen that these track sections 48 are each provided with a longitudinally extending groove 50 for slidably receiving the base 52 of a carriage 54. A spring 56 has one end connected with the carriage 54 and the other end suitably attached as at 58 to the rear of the frame section 24. This spring normally urges the carriage to its retracted position as shown in FIGS. 1, 2. and 3.

The carriage 54 includes upwardly extending guides 60 formed by C-shaped walls 62. The open. sides of these 'C-shaped walls, as can be seen more readily from FIGS. 6 and 7, confront one another and are spaced from one another to receive the feed head 64. This feed head includes a hollow post section 66, the hollow being shown at 68, and oppositely disposed lugs 70. The hollow post 66 abuts the confronting edges of the parallel legs of C-shaped walls 62 and is disposed between these walls while the lugs 70 extend within the O-shaped walls 62. Springs 72 are interposed between the bottom moving the feed head to withdraw a length of tape from the pressure sensitive roll. The feed head, or cutting block, when retracted to its non-extended position, is moved by the spring so as to bring the cutting block into tape cutting relationship with the cutter.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the improved tape dispensing machine, part thereof being broken away for the sake of clearness;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the lines 22 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1, ma somewhat larger scale;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of FIG. 2 but on a somewhat larger scale; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view looking in the direction of arrows 77 of FIG. 5.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the dispenser is shown at 20, and it comprises a frame 22. The frame 22 may be formed of a main section 24 and a sub-section 26, the latter being suitably and fixedly attached to the main section 24 in any suitable manner. The section 24 includes side walls 28 and 30 which are spaced from one another, and the confronting walls of the side walls 28 and 30 are each provided with an angularly extending groove 32 for receiving the axle 34 of a spool 36. The spool 36 carries aroll of pressure sensitive tape 38; this of the lugs 70 and the base 52 of the carriage and normally urge the post 66 and consequently the feed head 64 upwardly.

The feed head 64 is moved downwardly by a lever 74. This lever 74' is pivoted between upwardly extending ears 76 on the base 50 by a pin 78. Lever 74 is dis posed within the hollow 68 of the post 66 and is connected with the post by a link 80 through pins 82 and 84. "Ihis lever 74 is normally urged upwardly by the springs 72. r

The carriage also includes a runner 86 which is arranged to slide within a horizontally extending slot 88 which is cut out of the track section 48 (see FIG. 1). The rear of this slot 88 extends upwardly as at 90. The lever 74 extends through this slot 90 and when pulled downwardly, it is aligned with the slot 88. By pulling downwardly on the lever 74, so as to pull the feed head away from the cutter, until the lever 74 aligns with the slot 88,,then the lever 74 can be pulled forwardly through the slot 88, carrying with it the entire carriage .54. This movement forward of the carriage further biases the spring 56. Upon releasing the lever 74, the carriage 54 moves rearwardly and when the lever 74 aligns with the upwardly extending slot 90, the feed head will be snapped upwardly by the action of thesprings 72. The top of slot 90 limits the upward movement of lever 74 and head 64.

The cutter assembly includes a needle holder 92 carrying a series of needles 94. These needles are embedded preferably in the holder 92 and are provided with points at the bottom thereof. The needle holder 92 is. clamped between two blocks 96 by screws 98, and these blocks are spaced by spacers 100 from the top surface 42 of the cutter assembly supporting section 40. Two elongated pads 102 are disposed on opposite sides of the needle holder 92 and are guided by hollow section 104 in the spacers 100. These pads 102 are normally urged downwardly by springs 106. Springs 106 normally assist in urging the pads downwardly but the downward movement of the pads is limited by the heads of the screws 108. "It will be understood that there is a clearance between the shanks of the screws 108 and the blocks 96 through which the screws extend. It will be seen from FIG. 5 that the heads of the screws 108 abut the top walls of the blocks 96.

The tape, of the pressure sensitive type, is threaded between thetop of the feed head 64 and the bottom of the pads 102. The pads 102 normally urge the adhesive side of the tape into contact with the top side of the feed head 64. It will be seen from the foregoing that when the feed head 64 is pulled downwardly, the tape 110 will adhere to the head and then when the head is pulled forwardly, a length of tap'e is unrolled from the roll 38. Upon the return of the head 64 by the spring 56, the upward thrust of the head by the spring 72 will cause the tape to be forced against the needles 94 and thereby be pierced or cut to such an extent that the tape can readily be severed by pulling forward or slightly sideways and forward. The snapping up of the head 64 will cause a slight upward movement of the pads 102 so as to enhance the perforation by the needles 94.

A slot 112 is formed in the upper surface of the head 64 for receiving the needles 94. This slot is deep enough so that the pins will not strike the bottom of the slot and thereby are not damaged by the upward movement of the head 64.

The front end of the carriage carries two columns 114 which carry vertically slidable members 116, which in turn carry lifter elements 118. These elements are adapted to lift the tape off the feed head 64 when the tape is extended. The vertically slidable members 116 are lifted through a pin 120 when engaged by earn 122 on the forward end of the carriage 54. This lifter mechanism is more fully described in my copending application Serial No. 612,257 filed on September 25, 1956,now Patent No. 2,988,944, and forms no part of the present invention.

From the foregoing it will be seen that when the lever 74 is moved downwardly and then forwardly, the end of the tape adhering to the head 64 will move forwardly with the head and unroll a strip of tape from the roll 38. As the head 64 is moved through the carriage to near its foremost position the tape lifters will be raised to remove the tape from the head 64; then upon retraction of the carriage and head 64 through the action of the springs 56 and the upper movement of the head 64 by the springs 72, the tape will be perforated sufiiciently so that by grasping the free end of the tape between the thumb and forefinger it can be severed by pulling forwardly.

A second roll of tape 124 is carried by upright brackets 126 on the base section 26. This tape, a portion of which is shown at 128, is strung under a guide 130; this guide 130 is suitably attached to the walls 28 and 30. The tape is then brought into contact with the adhesive side of the strip of tape 110 so that it will adhere to the under side of the pressure sensitive tape. Preferably both tapes are threaded between rollers 132 and 134. The hubs 1'36 of roller 134 are rotatably carried in sockets 138 which are the bottom of channels 140 in the side walls 28 and 30. The hubs 142 of the rollers 132 are journaled in the side walls 28 and 30. The weight of roller 134-is sufficient to press the tapes into adhering relationship. When the pressure sensitive tape is pulled outwardly by the head 64, the tape 128, adhering to the adhesive side of tape 110 also will be pulled outwardly. A leaf spring 144 is urged against the roll of tape 124 to prevent unnecessary unrolling of the same. It will be understood that both tapes are severed simultaneously through the action of the head or cutter block 64 and needles 94.

The tape 128 may be perforated so that part of the adhesive side of the tape 110 is exposed and can adhere to the top of the cutter block or feed head 64, whereby the tape 110 will adhere to the top side of the cutter block. However, in the perferred embodiment, the tape 128 is of narrower width than the tape 110 so that the opposite sides of the adhesive tape is exposed for attachment to the block 64. The tape may have printing thereon for advertising purposes or could have a trademark printed thereon. Or any indicia desirable may be placed on the tape 128, the tape 110 being transparent or translucent which will permit the reading of the indicia on the tape 128 through the tape 110.

While the form of embodiment herein shown and described constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms may be adopted falling within the scope of the claims that follow.

I claim: A

1. A dispenser for a roll of tape having a pressuresensitive surface on one face thereof comprising frame means having means adjacent one end thereof for rotatably supporting a roll of tape, cutting means carried by said frame means forwardly of said tape supporting means, a feed head carried by said frame means immediately below said cutting means and being normally in substantially vertical alignment therewith and forming a cutting block for said tape, said feed head having a top surface for adhesively engaging the pressure-sensitive face of said tape when positioned between said cutting means and said feed head, means urging said feed head upwardly into engagement with said cutting means, tape receiving means carried by said frame means adjacent the other end thereof for receiving and retaining the free end of the tape from said feed head, actuating means for successively moving said feed head downwardly away from said cutting means and against the force of said upwardly urging means and then forwardly in the direction of said tape receiving means to withdraw a portion of tape from said roll and transfer the end carried by said feed head to said tape receiving means, and retracting means successively urging said actuating means and said feed head rearwardly whereby said feed head, upon transfer of tape therefrom, is moved rearwardly by the retracting means and then upwardly by said urging means to engage the adhesive face of said tape and force same into cutting engagement with said cutting means.

2. A dispenser in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cutting means include pad means disposed on the bottom face thereof, and means urging said pad means downwardly forcing the tape into engagement with said feed head, said pad means being movable upwardly slightly upon retracting of said feed head to facilitate the cutting of the tape.

3. A dispenser for a roll of tape having a pressuresensitive surface on one face thereof comprising frame means having means adjacent one end thereof for rotatably supporting a roll of tape, cutting means carried by said frame means forwardly of said tape supporting means, pad means disposed on the bottom face of said cutting means, spring means urging said pad means downwardly, a feed head carried by said frame means immediately below said cutting means and being normally in substantially vertical alignment therewith and forming a cutting block for said tape, said feed head having a top surface for adhesively engaging the pressure-sensitive face of said tape when positioned between said cutting means and said feed head, compressible spring means in operative engagement with said feed head urging said feed head upwardly into engagement with the pad means of said cutting means, tape receiving means carried by said frame means adjacent the other end thereof for receiving and retaining the free end of the tape from said feed head, actuating means for moving said head downwardly away from said cutting means and against the force of said spring means and forwardly in the direction of said tape receiving means to withdraw a portion of tape from said roll and transfer the end carried by said feed head to said tape receiving means, spring means operatively associ-ated with said actuating means normally urging said actuating means rearwardly to a retracted position whereby said feed head, upon transfer of tape therefrom, is moved rearwardly by the retracting means and upwardly by said spring means to engage the adhesive face of said tape and force same into cutting engagement with said cutting means.

4. A dispenser for a roll of tape having a pressuresensitive surface on one face thereof comprising frame means having spaced, substantially parallel side walls at least at the medial portion thereof, mounting means adjacent one end of said frame means for rotatably supporting a roll of tape, one of said side walls of said frame means having a vertically disposed slot and a horizontal slot connected at one end-to the lower end of the vertical slot forming a generally L-shaped slot therein extending in a direction away from said mounting means, cutting means carried by said frame means forwardly of said mounting means, pad means on the bottom surface of said cutting means, spring means resiliently urging said pad means downwardly, a feed head carried by said frame means between the side walls thereof and in alignment with the vertical slot therein and immediately below and in substantially vertical alignment with said cutting means, said feed head forming a cutting block for the tape, said feed head having a top surface for adhesively engaging the pressure-sensitive face of the tape when positioned between said cutting means and said feed head, spring means urging said feed head upwardly into engagement with the pad means carried by said cutting means, tape receiving means carried by said frame means adjacent the other end thereof immediately forward of the horizontal slot of said L-shaped slot for receiving and retaining the free end of the tape from said feed head, actuating means movably positioned in said L-shaped slot and operatively associated with said feed head for moving said feed head downwardly against the force of said upwardly urging spring means and along the path of the vertical slot and away from the pad means of the cutting head and forwardly along the path of the horizontal slot in the direction of said tape receiving means to withdraw a portion of tape from said roll and transfer the end carried by said feed head to said tape receiving means, spring means operatively associated with said actuating means normally urging said actuating means rearwardly to a retracted position whereby said feed head, upon transfer of tape therefrom, is moved rearw-ardly by the retracting means and upwardly by said spring means to engage the adhesive face of said tape and force same into cutting engagement with said cutting means.

5. A dispenser for a roll of tape having a pressuresensitive surface on one face thereof comprising frame means, first mounting means adjacent one end of said frame means for rotatably supporting a first roll of tape, second mounting means carried by frame means in spaced relation to said first mounting means for rotata'bly supporting a second roll of tape, one of said tapes having a pressure-sensitive surface on one face thereof, with the other of said tapes being narrower in width, means for guiding one of said tapes into adhering relationship with the other, cutting means carried by said frame means forwardly of said first and second mounting means, a feed head carried by said frame means immediately below said cutting means and being normally in substantially vertical alignment therewith and forming a cutting block for said tape, said feed head having a top surface for adhesively engaging the pressure-sensitive face of said tape when positioned between said cutting means and said feed head, means urging said feed head upwardly into engagement with said cuttii means, tape receiving means carried by said frame means adjacent the other end thereof for receiving and retaining the free end of the tape from said feed head, actuating means for moving said feed head downwardly away from said cutting means and against the force of said upwardly urging means and forwardly in the direction of said tape receiving means to withdraw a portion of tape from said roll and transfer the end carried by said feed head to said tape receiving means, and retracting means urging said actuating means and said feed head rearwardly whereby said feed head, upon transfer of tape therefrom, is moved rearward'ly by the retracting means and upwardly by said urging means to engage the adhesive face of said tape and force same into cutting engagement with said cutting means.

6. A dispenser in accordance with claim 5, wherein said cutting means include pad means disposed on the bottom face thereof, and means urging said pad means downwardly forcing the tape into engagement with said feed head, said pad means 'being movable upwardly slightly upon retracting of said feed head to facilitate the cutting of the tape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,178,722 De Mattia Nov. 7, 1939 2,307,406 Howard llan. 5, 1943 2,566,733 Kreuger Sept. 4, 1951 2,623,588 Fritzinger Dec. 30, 1952 2,746,543 Gezich May 22, 1956 

